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Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Yahoo files lawsuit against NSA

Yahoo on Monday joined other US technology giants in
launching legal action against the federal government over the NSA surveillance
revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Yahoo filed a suit in the foreign intelligence surveillance
(Fisa) court, which provides the legal framework for NSA surveillance, to allow
the company to make public the number of data requests it receives per year
from the spy agency.

Withholding the information creates mistrust, Yahoo said.
Companies are forbidden by law to say how much data they provide.

Yahoo, in its motion, said it and other electronic
communication providers have been intensely and publicly scrutinised for their
alleged "participation" in government surveillance: "Yahoo has
been unable to engage fully in the debate about whether the government has
properly used its powers, because the government has placed a prior restraint
on Yahoo's speech."

Criticising news coverage, specifically by the Guardian and
the Washington Post, Yahoo said media outlets were mistaken in claiming that
the Prism program allowed the US government to tap directly into the servers to
collect information. It said that claim was "false".

"Yahoo's inability to respond to news reports has
harmed its reputation and has undermined its business not only in the United
States but worldwide. Yahoo cannot respond to such reports with mere
generalities."

Microsoft and Google also filed their latest legal briefs on
Monday to force the Fisa court to disclose more information.

Google, in an amended motion, said its reputation was being
substantially harmed by the controversy, and that recent NSA moves towards
transparency fell far short of what was needed.

As part of its motion, it accused the Guardian of
"mischaracterizing the scope and nature of Google's receipt of and
compliance with foreign intelligence surveillance requests". It also
criticised the Washington Post.

The tech companies risk losing billions of dollars in a
consumer backlash over disclosures in documents leaked by former NSA contractor
Snowden of their relationship with the NSA. The companies claim they are only
handing over data because they are forced to by law – and are not doing so voluntarily.

Ron Bell, general counsel for Yahoo, said: "We believe
that the US government's important responsibility to protect public safety can
be carried out without precluding internet companies from sharing the number of
national security requests they may receive."

He added: "Ultimately, withholding such information
breeds mistrust and suspicion – both of the United States and of companies that
must comply with government legal directives."

The Yahoo move came before a meeting later Monday of the review
group on intelligence and communications technology, set up in the wake of the
Snowden disclosures to try to ease tensions between the federal government and
the tech companies.

The Guardian and Washington Post revealed in June a
"top-secret" NSA presentation about the Prism program detailing how
the companies co-operate with the government in supplying personal information.

Other stories, including one last week, also revealed how
the NSA is actively engaged in cracking encryption codes that protect private
data on the internet, such as banking and medical details. The companies said
they were unaware of this.

The revelations could hit sales of the US tech companies,
especially its data storage cloud services. A Washington think tank, the
Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, in a report in early August,
estimated the cost could amount to $35bn in lost sales by 2016.

The federal government, in response to initial calls by the
industry, released general figures about data requests, but not in the detail
the companies are looking for.

Bell said: "We filed the suit today because we are not
authorized at present to break out the number of requests, if any, that we
receive for user data under specific national security statutes. The US
government prohibits companies from disclosing this information."

He added: "The United States should lead the world when
it comes to transparency, accountability, and respect of civil liberties and
human rights. The US government's recent decision to release aggregate annual
data about its requests for phone call logs and internet chats was an important
first step in this direction.

"Granting our petition for greater transparency around
national security requests for user data is a critical second step."

Google, in its motion, said transparency is a core value for
the company. Like Yahoo, it welcomed the recent NSA disclosure of data, but said:
"The effort falls short of achieving transparency meaningful to the public
and to Google's users. It fails to inform them of the true extent of demands
placed on Google by the government.

"Google's reputation and business has been and
continues to be harmed by the false or misleading reports in the media, and
Google's users are concerned by the allegations. Google must respond to such
claims with more than generalities."

As well as data about NSA requests, some of the companies
are refusing to say how much money they receive in reimbursement for legal
costs in complying with the law. Yahoo said it requests reimbursement while
Facebook said it never received any compensation.